Miss Republic City
by RachieFly
Summary: Bolin has the perfect idea on how to get the money they need for the Championship Pro-Bending Match; have Korra enter and win the Miss Republic City Pageant. Laugh as Bolin and Mako teach Korra 'How to be a Girl'.
1. Trust me, Korra

"No way!"

Korra shook her head and crossed her arms to emphasize how appalled and against the idea she was that Bolin just suggested. She started to walk away, done with the conversation but her earth bending friend ran to stop her.

He put his hand on her shoulder. "Come on Korra, be open minded about this. We'll make all the money we need for the Championship Match and more. It won't be that bad and how else can we do that?"

"I don't know, but I do know I'd sooner dip myself hot butter and walk on a tightrope over room full of angry Boar-Q-Pine's before I do that." Korra thought about what she said and then frowned. "Hopefully it won't have to come to that…"

Bolin smiled but then sighed heavily; his idea wasn't that bad…right? Right…maybe it was just the way he approached her about it. He replayed the situation in his head quickly.

_Bolin ran in the training room and yelled happily, "I got it!"_

_Both Korra and Mako, who had been arguing about something again, turned to him with a puzzled look on their faces._

"_Got what?" They asked in unison._

_Bolin grinned proudly and whipped a flyer out of his pocket. "The answer to all our problems…financially."_

_Mako narrowed his eyes, wondering what his brother had got into this time, and walked over to him. Korra followed and watched as the fire bender took the flyer and began to read it. She read along with him but Mako managed to finish first and once he did, he gave his brother a stupid look._

_When Korra finished reading she turned to Bolin, still with a confused look on her face. "Miss Republic City?"_

"_Yeah, Korra, you're going to enter and win the Miss Republic City Pageant!" He answered excitedly. "We'll hit the jackpot then!"_

_When he saw that Korra had the same expression on her face he frowned a bit. "You do know what the Miss Republic City Pageant is…right?"_

"_No…is it a bending contest…just for girls? If so, I'll gladly join and win." The Avatar grinned arrogantly at the thought._

_Mako facepalmed and walked to the other side of the room to continue his training while Bolin shook his head at their Avatar friend._

"_Not exactly…it's more like a beauty pageant; females from all over Republic City come to compete in it. There are several rounds and several judges and-"_

"_No way!"_

Nope…Bolin couldn't see anything wrong with the way he came at her about it. He came to the conclusion that she wasn't giving the idea a chance.

"You've never done it before; how do you know you won't like it?"

"If you like the idea so much, then you should do it."

"I would Korra, but I think it's called _Miss _Republic City for a reason."

"She's right Bolin; it's a silly idea." Mako agreed with Korra for once.

Korra nodded. "Thank you."

"I mean, Korra would need to actually act like a girl to win that."

Bolin slumped over, disappointed both of his teammates shot the idea down. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Both brothers thought the conversation was over and was about to start training again but Korra wasn't finished. She turned to Mako, slightly confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Mako looked at her, expressionless as usual. "Exactly what I said; you'd have to act like a girl if you wanted to win that pageant…which you don't do now…nor, I suspect, have you ever done."

"You don't think I'm girly?" Korra stormed over to him.

"What could've given you that impression?"

"Why not?" She demanded.

"Well I don't see too many other females out there getting into trouble, playing on a Pro-bending team, riding a polar bear dog and fighting Amon."

"I'm the Avatar, what do you expect?"

"Excuses, excuses."

Bolin watched, a smile growing on his face by the second. Not only was it entertaining but if the conversation continued going in the direction it was going, things might work out in his favor after all.

"Why are you trying to prove me otherwise?" Mako asked when he noticed how angry Korra was getting. She had to realize she wasn't too feminine.

"Because I'm plenty girly! How would you feel if I questioned your manhood?"

Mako ignored her question. "Korra, name the last thing you did that could be considered feminine."

"I…well I…the other day…I'm sure I…" She stuttered as she struggled to think of something, anything. "I…washed?"

"My point exactly."

The Avatar fumed as the fire bender went started out the room but he didn't make it out before a fireball flew over his shoulder, inches from his face. Mako stopped and looked back at Korra, who was staring at him with a determined look on her face.

"I may be tomboyish, but I can be girly any time I feel like it. I'm plenty woman."

Mako gave her a look that said 'whatever you say' and was about to leave again but Korra wasn't finished.

"And I'm going to prove you wrong by entering this Miss Republic City thing and winning it."

Mako stared at her a bit longer, trying to determine if she was serious or not. "I already told you two I'd handle the money situation; you should be concentrating on preparing yourself for the Championship…but waste your time if you want, I don't care."

He walked out then, leaving a happy Bolin and an irritated Korra alone in the training room.

Bolin spoke first. "Don't worry Korra, when he gets that money in his hands he'll be much more enthusiastic; you know how he gets around money."

"So then, you think I'm girly?" Korra turned to Bolin for his opinion.

"Nope, not as much as you should be." She looked surprised when Bolin said that. "Let's face it Korra, everything Mako said was true…but just because you're not girly now doesn't mean you can't be. You just need a little guidance, that's all…and that's where me and Mako come in."

The earth bender slung his arm over the Avatar's shoulder as she looked confused, yet again.

"So wait a minute…two guys are going to show me how to be a girl?"

"Don't look at it that way…just trust me."

"Is Mako even going to help?"

"Trust me, Korra."

Korra sighed but then smiled. "I trust you, Bolin."

"Good." Bolin said happily. "Now the contest starts in one week, which means we have 7 days to prepare you…and that's not that much time. Fill out the application and be here at 6:00 sharp tomorrow morning. Leave the rest to me and Mako."

"6:00 am?"

"Trust me, remember Korra."

* * *

_This is just the beginning of a very funny story, so stay tuned! Thanks for reading, please tell me your thoughts so far... _


	2. Give us your smexy face

"Hello, I'm here." Korra said sleepily as she walked slowly and grudgingly into the training room.

It was early in the morning and she was still half asleep. It took everything in her power not to go right back to sleep once she first woke up. But she had to do this. She had to win the money for the Championship…and she had to make Mako eat his words.

"You're late." Was the firebenders response, who was sitting on a bench with his arms folded and a frown on his face.

"Wow, I love that greeting I just received; it made me feel so welcome."

"Bolin told you to be here at 6:00 and it's now going on 6:20."

"That's because I was sleeping…like all normal people should be doing at this hour…why am I even here this early? I told you two before…mornings are evil…"

"Well Korra, I'd imagine turning you into a girl is going to take a lot of time and energy."

"Turning me into a girl?" Korra narrowed her eyes. "What am I? A grown man?"

Mako rolled his eyes. "Don't over exaggerate things."

Korra looked at him a bit weary; she hadn't forgotten about yesterday's argument and was still kind of upset that he and his brother didn't find her too feminine. It wasn't her fault that she was the Avatar. But even though she was mad about it, she was too sleepy to let it bother her. When she was fully awake then she'd be super ticked with the firebender.

"Where's Bolin?" Korra asked after a moment of silence.

"He went to get the stuff." Mako answered with closed eyes.

"What stuff?"

"Stuff that's going to help you be more feminine, I'd suspect."

As if on cue, Bolin then walked through the door with his arms wrapped around a big box. He was smiling and moving as if it had been around lunch time, which the other two didn't quite understand. He set the box on a nearby table before turning to his teammates.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late; I found some awesome stuff that can help us." He headed closer towards them. "Good morning Korra, ready to get started?"

Korra stared at him blankly. "Started doing what exactly?"

"Mako didn't explain it to you?" He looked at his brother, who turned his head away like a defiant child. "Of course he didn't."

"Well here's how the pageant works, there's four rounds; The Interview Round, The Talent Round, The Swimsuit Round and The Evening Dress Round. Since the Interview Round is first I figured we'd work on that today." Bolin then pointed to the box. "Well use this stuff too."

Korra leaned against the wall. "Okay, that makes sense. So how's this interview going to go? Am I going to be in a small room with five judges and they're going to ask me millions of questions about myself?"

"You're going to be on stage while three judges ask you five to ten questions. Some questions will be things like 'what's your favorite activity to do in your spare time' and such. Others will be more directed on your opinion about certain things; it's all to find out about you and your personality." The earth bender explained.

Korra nodded in understanding. "Alright, so that means sample questions today?"

"Yes, that and I have to attach a full body picture of you to the application." Bolin smiled. "But before we do that, you're going to get a girly lesson."

"A girly lesson?"

"Yeah, we're going to give you one everyday. In today's lesson, me and Mako are going to show you how to act in public, by pretending were out at a restaurant."

Before Korra could ask anything else, Bolin marched over to his brother and practically dragged him back to the box. Mako had a look on his face that said he'd rather be doing anything else but he didn't resist. Bolin then proceeded to put a giant, pink, fluffy scarf around his neck. Then a big flower hat, grandma glasses and finally he wrapped an apron around him. Bolin then dressed himself in a green hat, two bracelets, a monocle and held a purse by his side. By the time he was finished playing dressing up, Korra was in tears laughing. Mako's temper rose with hardy laugh produced by the Avatar, but Bolin still seemed as happy as ever.

"Korra, pay attention to how we speak, purse our lips, and not let our elbows touch the table."

The earthbender then forced his brother to sit down at the nearby table with him. He then handed a piece of paper to him and kept one in his hands.

In a high pitched voice, Bolin said, "Doesn't the options look so delicious? Are you ready to order, Mako, dear?"

"Yes." Mako grumbled.

Korra's laughter died down once she heard Mako speak in a angry type voice. "Excuse me, Bolin, I don't know if I'm getting the full effect...could you have Mako speak in a girly voice too? And I need him to purse his lips and not have such short answers too."

Mako glared hard at her.

"Come on Mako, it's not going to take that long."

The firebender exhaled deeply, a sign of pure irritation, but did as his brother asked. "Why yes Bolin, this food looks so...edible..."

When he pursed his lips, Korra resumed her laughing. She continued laughing throughout their whole spiel as they pretended to order and recieve their meal. By the time they were pretending to eat, Mako was about to blow his top.

"Yum, yum, yum. This is some good stuff. I'd recommend it to all our girl friends. How about you, Mako?" Bolin was into his acting too much to realize his brother couldn't take too much more of it. "Maybe you and that new guy you had your eye on lately can come here and order the same elegant meal..."

"This is stupid!" Mako growled, standing up and throwing all the female accessories off of him. "She's not even paying attention, Bo; she's too busy laughing."

Bolin couldn't help but chuckle. "Well it was pretty funny..."

Mako glared at him. "Are we putting on a show for her or showing her how to be girly?"

"Okay, fine. You're right." Bolin turned to the Avatar. "Korra did you get anything out of this?"

It took Korra a few seconds to calm down but once she did, she nodded. "Yes...I learned that Mako could be quite entertaining when he isn't being a jerk."

"I'm not a jerk."

"Anything else?"

"Yes Bolin, I now know not to put my elbows on the table, to purse my lips a lot for some reason...and to speak politely."

Bolin grinned and began taking his accessories off. "Score! See Mako, this is helping."

The firebender didn't respond, but instead looked away, frustrated.

"Alright, now we can move onto part two of today's agenda." The earth bender pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, getting semi serious. "Mako, will you ask her some of these questions while I get her outfit ready for the picture?"

"Whatever."

Mako took the paper from his brother and returned to where he sat ealier. Bolin walked back over to the box full of miscellaneous things he deemed feminine and began rummaging through it.

"Get my outfit ready? What's wrong with what I've got on?"

"Nothing, your get up's perfect…for fighting Amon and his chi blockers…for the Miss Republic City Pageant? No…your application will be thrown in the burn pile." Bolin grinned.

"Wow…that has no affect on my self esteem at all…" Korra said sarcastically.

"There you go over exaggerating things again." Mako said with a sigh. "He was talking about your attire not your face."

"Yeah Korra, don't get me wrong, you're far from ugly." Bolin shook his hands innocently. "That face of yours is what's going to win us that money. Just ask Mako, he'll tell you the same thing."

Korra turned to the firebender, a grin tugging on her lips. "Is this true Mako? I'm not girly enough to win this competition but I'm pretty enough?"

Mako looked at her and then looked away. "Let's stay on track here…first question."

Korra rolled her eyes at his response but prepared herself for the questions. Bolin continued going through the box, in search of clothing.

"If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?"

"No Amon or equalist." Korra said immediately, confident in her answer.

Mako facepalmed. "Wrong."

"What's wrong with it?"

"Of course we want that Korra, but remember, most of these people are non benders. So we not only want to say something girly but something that appeals to them too…like world peace."

"World peace?" Korra sucked her teeth. "That's never going to happen."

Mako stared at her with a blank face. "Isn't that what you're supposed to be aiming for…as the Avatar…world peace…?"

Korra thought about it for a moment. "…oh yeah…"

"Moving on…" Mako rolled his eyes and selected a question from the paper. "What's your motto for life?"

"Always fight for what's right."

"And?"

"And…rules were meant to be broken?"

"What? No." Mako looked frustrated. "Always fight for what's right and show courage when the situation calls for it."

"Yeah, that too."

The firebender's nose flared. "…name a short and long term goal for you."

"Winning the Pro-bending contest for a short term goal…and…world peace for a long term?" She said the last part more as a question.

"What about anything you just said is girly?" Mako demanded.

"The world peace part was, you just suggested it."

"Yeah, for the other question. Your answer to everything can't be world peace…and pro bending isn't feminine at all."

Mako sighed heavily; his irritation was starting to get the best of him. It was like she was barely trying. He knew it wouldn't be long before he gave up and started doing something productive with his time.

Bolin grinned as he stared at the light blue, knee high, formal dress on the table in front of him. He was proud of himself for finding such a great outfit and took the time to admire it. He knew it'd look even better on Korra and was ready to call her over to try it on but before he got the chance, he heard loud arguing. They were at it…again.

Bolin looked over at his teammates who were yelling about something that would soon be irrelevant later on. He should've known this would happen, especially since Mako didn't want to have anything to do with this competition in the first place. It took a lot of pleading on Bolin's part just to get his brother to join him that morning. Now he had to break them up before Mako just quit altogether which is the last thing he wanted and needed.

"Hey, you two are at it again, just like an old married couple." Bolin chuckled as he made his way over to them. "Must I always be the peacemaker? What's the problem this time? How are the questions coming along?"

Korra crossed her arms. "They were going fine until Mako decided everything was hopeless."

"I wouldn't have decided that if someone was actually trying to answer the questions the correct way." Mako retorted.

"Alright, alright." Bolin stopped them before it went any further and turned to his brother "It can't be that bad. What was the last question you asked her?"

"Do you think you'd want to be a mother one day? Why or why not?"

"And you said…?" Bolin turned to the Avatar.

"I said 'what kind of question is that?'"

"And I said 'the kind they ask.'" Mako said.

Bolin laughed again. "Korra, they really ask these kinds of questions. Why? I don't know but I know you have to answer it."

Korra sighed as she thought about it. "I don't know…maybe one day…in the far far far future. Kids are alright…when they're not gnawing on your head or being pests."

"I'm sure that answer will win the judges over." Mako mumbled.

Bolin spoke before Korra could. "It's not a bad answer…it just needs work…lots and lots of work…but how about we take a break from that and get this picture taken already?"

Bolin started back over to the box while Korra reluctantly followed; it was too early in the morning to be stressed out. Mako remained sitting and just watched his teammates instead of following. This whole ordeal was stressing him out. When they got to the box, Korra saw the outfit neatly laid out on the table. Bolin grabbed the outfit and shoved it towards her.

"Go try this on, it looks like your size."

Korra analyzed it with narrowed eyes. "Where's the rest of it?"

"That's it."

"No, I mean, where are the pants?"

The earth bender gave her a strange look. "…there are none; it's a dress, Korra."

In seconds the light blue dress was on fire and Bolin's eyes were popping out of his head. He snatched the dress back and began trying to extinguish it by blowing on it.

"I'm not wearing that." Korra said plain and clear.

When he saw that blowing wasn't working, Bolin threw the dress on the ground and began stomping on it until all the flames were gone. Then he picked it back up and looked over it carefully to make sure it wasn't damaged.

"Thank goodness it's alright…" He turned to Korra, his eyes wide. "What are you trying to do, Korra?"

Like Mako had done earlier, Korra turned away from him like a defiant child.

Bolin sighed. "Look, I know you're not accustomed to wearing dresses but it has to be done. You can't win this in your everyday Avatar clothes. I was serious earlier; they won't even look at your application if your picture is anything less than awesome."

"I told you this was hopeless." Mako said, startling the two. Just when did he get over there? "Now if you two are ready to stop wasting time, I found a job not far from here that pays alright…and it doesn't require anyone to be girly."

Bolin turned away from his brother, not nearly ready to give up. Korra, on the other hand, turned to him with fire in her eyes.

"Were not wasting time; were getting me ready for this pageant."

"Hopeless." Mako repeated.

That only served to anger Korra even more but it also served to Bolin's advantage. Surprisingly, the Avatar glared at Mako, snatched the dress from Bolin and then headed to the bathroom. She was really adamant on proving Mako wrong about this whole thing. Bolin took notice to that and decided to use it to his advantage.

"Keep doing that, Mako," He told his brother. "it's working!"

"Doing what?"

"She really wants to prove you wrong about this whole thing so when you say she can't do it, questioning her femininity and stuff like that, it actually encourages her."

"That's the last thing I'm trying to do."

"But you are and it's working so keep doing it and you'll have that money in your hands in no time."

Mako rolled his eyes; the thought of the yuan did entice him but what were the odds of Korra actually winning? There were at least a hundred other females signed up for this pageant, all of them probably more feminine and not as headstrong or pugnacious as Korra.

It wasn't long before the Avatar came out the bathroom in the outfit. It was actually a nice look on her, the only problem was the scowl on her face. The brothers stared at her with big eyes as she stormed over to Bolin. They didn't expect her to look as nice as she did.

"Alright, take the stupid picture already."

"Korra, you look lovely. You should dress like this more often." Bolin said as he reached for the camera.

Korra's expression softened just a tinge. "Thanks, but I doubt fighting Amon would be easy in this."

Mako had a comeback that probably would've angered her further but decided to spare her this time. She looked nice and although he wouldn't tell her that, he wouldn't insult her either.

"Put these heels on…barefoot went out of style a few thousands of years ago after the whole caveman period…" Bolin handed her matching heels with a grin.

Korra reluctantly put them on and wobbled a bit, but somehow managed to keep her balance. Mako backed up out the way as Bolin got the camera ready.

"You should pose." Mako commented.

"Yeah, good idea Mako." Bolin encouraged. "Pose Korra! Give us your smexy face."

Mako rolled his eyes. "I didn't say all that…"

Korra just stared at the brothers, blankly. "Give you my what face?"

"Nothing, just pose confidently, like you know you're going to win this pageant."

Korra hesitated but then posed like the statue of Aang in the city.

"…no…"

She sighed and tried a different pose, this time with her hands on her hips and her head held up high.

"Better…but still no…"

This time Korra went and grabbed a chair and sat on it. She crossed her legs, rested her elbows on her thighs and positioned her hands underneath her chin.

"Is this better or still a no?"

"Yes, it's prefect!" Bolin smiled stretched across his whole face. "Just one more thing…can you smile and not look like you've been sentenced to death?"

Korra chuckled and then smiled for the picture. It was a lot for her but she had to admit it was fun so far…you know, aside from her arguments with Mako. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as it seemed.

"Excellent." Bolin said once he took the picture. "And how about we end today's bit on that good note? We can pick up things tomorrow morning at 6:00 again."

"Why do you want me to suffer?" Korra asked, pained. "How many times must I tell you? Mornings are evil! They'll kill me!"

"Over exaggerating once again…" Mako pointed out.

The Avatar sighed, she was quite ready to do something else. "Are we going to be doing the sample questions again?"

"Maybe one or two but tomorrow we'll mainly focus on your talent since that's the next part."

"That's easy." Korra started to bend the elements but was quickly stopped.

"No, no, Korra…not in that dress." Bolin said. "You can go change now."

"Thank goodness."

She quickly scurried off to the bathroom while the brothers watched her go.

"See, everything's going to be fine." Bolin encouraged his brother.

"Yep…fine until you tell her bending isn't allowed in the competition." Mako said.

"Well…I was kind of hoping you'd tell her…" Bolin said as he readied the application Korra filled out yesterday.

Mako looked at his brother, a small smirk on his face. "No way."

* * *

_Well this was a quick update...quick for me at least; I'm usually a very slow updater, lol. I guess it was all those wonderful reviews I got. :) Thanks to everyone who reviewed and all that other stuff. I got over 50 story alerts/favorite story messages combined! You guys are great! I hope you laughed and if you didn't, I'll try harder next chapter! Thanks again and I hope you stay tuned for the next update! :)_

_I just finished watching the new episode... 1 word...epicness...lol_


	3. Maybe dancing isn't you thing

"Hey, Korra!"

Korra looked at smiling earth bender that was jogging over to her as she entered the training room. It was 6 in the morning; Korra couldn't understand why or how he was so happy and lively. She was too sleepy to feel anything beside distress that she to be there. Now Mako on the other hand, he seemed to be feeling the same way as Korra. He was sitting on the same bench he was yesterday, with tired eyes and his usual frown on.

"Good morning, Bolin." The Avatar said in a low voice, barely audible.

"Are you excited about day 2 of your Miss Republic City girly training?" He asked once he reached her.

"Ecstatic. Can't you tell by the look on my face?"

"Well to be honest you look sleepy…but today's activities are going to wake you right up."

"I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing."

"A good thing, trust me." Bolin explained with an innocent face. "Today's agenda consists of your girly lesion, finding your talent and a few sample questions. Then it's over, nothing too big."

Korra hesitated as she looked at him with weary eyes. "Alright then, let's get this over with."

"Great!" Bolin slapped his hands together. "For your girly lesson this morning, you're going to fight Mako…and you can use any element you want."

Korra looked at the fire bender, who had his eyes closed, with surprised eyes. Did he really agree to that? Then she turned back to Bolin, a small smirk now present on her face.

"Really now? That'll be fun and easy." She grinned. "But how is that teaching me how to be girly?"

"Glad you asked."

Bolin walked over to the box full of miscellaneous feminine objects from yesterday and dug in it. After a few seconds, he pulled out the pair of heels Korra wore with the light blue dress before. He then smirked himself, and handed then to his Avatar friend.

"What am I supposed to do with these?"

"Wear them, of course. You're going to be fighting Mako in heels."

Korra looked incredulously at the earth bender. "What? Why?"

"Well, we noticed you wobble a bit while you wore the heels yesterday and you barely walked in them. Wobbling and falling on stage in front of everybody is not acceptable. So we decided to help you with that now in your girly lesson and get it out of the way."

"Why not just have me walk in them?"

"Anybody can just walk in them Korra, but if you fought in them then you'd really be a pro at it. We'd know you would have no problem walking or doing anything else in them. Besides, this is much more fun and you're getting your pro bending practice in. See? It's a win-win situation." The earth bender explained with a grin and then turned in his brother's direction. "Alright, come on Mako. We're ready."

Korra sighed heavily and reluctantly put the heels on. What kind of crazy idea was this? Who in the world would think of this? These questions and many more formed in the Avatar's mind as Mako slowly but surely made his way over to her. A look of disdain was present on his face which only served to annoy Korra. Was he just tired too or did he really think this was a waste of time and that Korra was nowhere near feminine enough to win the pageant?

Heels or no heels, she was going to win this match.

"Ready?" The fire bender asked nonchalantly.

Korra nodded and tried to move back a little to get into her fighting stance, but ending up stumbling a bit and falling onto her keister.

"Are you sure?"

Korra glared at him as she quickly got back up. "Let's do this."

Mako rolled his eyes and then sent some flames her way. [Enter awesome fight scene here]

The battle started off somewhat slow, both Korra and Mako not fighting to their full potential. It was very difficult for the Avatar because she kept tripping and falling. She tried to stay on her feet as she fought but she found herself on the ground mostly, defending and blocking Mako's flames. And speaking of Mako, he started off slow with her but not long after he began going full force. He wasn't going easy on at her, which Korra picked up after a few minutes.

"Please don't go easy on me just because I'm wearing heels and can't walk in them, let alone fight in them." She said with sarcasm dripping off her tongue.

"I won't."

The fire bender threw more flames her way. [Enter another awesome fight scene here]

Bolin watched, hopeful that Korra would somehow stay on her feet, but unfortunately she didn't. Mako kept pushing her back with his fire and Korra kept falling. Maybe this wasn't going to work out as he planned…or maybe she just needed some more motivation…

"Mako!" Bolin hissed, suddenly. "Motivate her."

Mako shot his brother a blank look and then continued his battle with Korra, who was concentrating on staying on her feet so much she didn't hear Bolin.

"Motivate her…" Bolin said again and gave him a knowing look. "remember?"

It took a few seconds for Mako to get it, but once he did he rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Come on, can't you at least stay on your feet for at least five seconds?" Mako spoke to Korra. "I thought you were the Avatar."

"I am the Avatar." Korra glared at him again.

Mako proceeded to shoot more fire at her. "Yeah, an Avatar that won't win this competition."

"I am going to win."

"Yeah, in another life…"

Korra clenched her teeth together and began fire bending instead of using water and earth liked she was previously doing. She was getting angry and it showed on her face. Bolin gave a thumbs up to his brother when he noticed Korra stumbled back but didn't fall.

"When you're more feminine…" Mako finished his sentence.

In seconds the Avatar was pushing Mako back with her flames instead of the other way around. [Enter one more awesome fight scene…come on, use your imagination!]

To Bolin's surprise, the challenge was actually starting to work. Korra was fighting Mako and holding her own, unlike before, not allowing the heels to trip her up. He couldn't believe it, but there it was before his own eyes.

Just to test it out, Bolin used his earth bending to send two earth blocks flying towards her. Still fighting Mako, Korra didn't see the blocks coming and one hit her in her leg. Now aware of the blocks, she dodged the second one and still remained on her feet. She then looked at Bolin, who was staring at her in awe and then turned back to the relentless fire bender she was fighting.

After a few more minutes, Bolin was about to tell them that it was enough and that he was very much satisfied. Unfortunately, before he got the chance, Korra lost focus and tripped over one of the earth blocks he made. She immediately tried to catch her balance but only ended up stumbling forward, sending her on a collision course with Mako.

In seconds, they collided and were on the floor. Korra was on top of Mako. Mako was under Korra. Mako's hand was on Korra's back. Korra's cheek was pressed against Mako's chest. You get the picture…

"Ouch." Mako mumbled and rubbed his head.

He was the first out of the two to realize the position they were in, and when he did his eyes got big and he blushed against his will. Korra mumbled something incomprehensible and slowly lifted herself up a bit so that she was face to face with Mako. When she saw Mako's uncomfortable expression she looked confused, wondering what his problem was. Then it clicked to her the position they were in.

She almost had a heart attack trying to get off of him.

"I, um…um, it was an accident…sorry, um, I didn't mean…your hand…my cheek…" She rambled on as she blushed too.

Bolin was over there in seconds, helping Korra to her feet as Mako stood up on his own quickly.

"Korra, are you okay?" Bolin asked, a concerned look on his face only for a few seconds. "You passed this test with flying colors! Excellent job. I'll take the blame for that last fall since it was my earth block."

"Thanks…I guess." Korra said, quickly forgetting about what just happened. "Does this mean I can take these heels off? They're killing my feet."

"Sure, sure. I'm positive you'll walk across that stage with no problem now." Bolin grinned, proud of himself for coming up with the idea. "Right, Mako?"

"Yeah, sure." He looked away.

Korra had those heels off in seconds and was on the floor massaging the pained area of her feet. After a few seconds of that she laid back on the floor, breathing heavily with closed eyes.

"Does this also mean were done for today? I need more sleep…"

"Nope, not nearly done. We have to find your talent, remember?"

Still with closed eyes, Korra made fire in her hand, then water and finally earth. "There's my talent. Next?"

Bolin looked at his brother and then back at Korra, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably. "Well, you see Korra…that's the thing…you need another talent…"

"Why?" She opened her eyes then.

"Well, bending isn't really allowed in this pageant…"

Korra jumped to her feet, a confused present on her face. She must've heard wrong. "What?"

"I said…bending is against the rules." Bolin repeated slowly.

"No bending! What kind of stupid rule is that!"

"The kind that will get you eliminated immediately if you break it." Mako said. "Calm down, it's not that big of a deal."

"Calm down? Not a big deal?" Korra was flabbergasted.

"I understand your frustration, Korra. Believe me, if I could change the rules, I would…but I can't. And rules are rules…" Bolin tried to assuage the situation.

"But why? Why is that a rule?"

"Probably because they want to see real talents. Just think, if that wasn't a rule all the females who could, would be bending. Not only would it be redundant but it's also not fair to the ones who can't bend." Mako explained with crossed arms.

Mako made sense and Korra knew he was right...but that didn't mean she couldn't be frustrated about it. She stood brooding silently to herself for a few minutes. Mako rolled her eyes but Bolin tried to be more encouraging.

"Come on Korra, you're the Avatar. I know you're talented in other areas too."

Korra reluctantly thought about it for a few seconds. "Well, I'm strong."

She picked Bolin up with no problem for emphasize.

"What part of girly don't you understand?" Mako frowned.

"What exactly is a girly talent, Mako? Sewing? Well, I can't sew!" She gritted her teeth, still mad.

"Why must you over exaggerate every little thing? No, not sewing."

"Give me an example then."

"Singing, dancing, playing an instrument, heck, even juggling would work."

"I can't do either of those." She said through clenched teeth.

Bolin patted her on the back. "Don't say can't, Korra. You've never tried them, so you don't know. It's worth a shot, right?"

She sighed reluctantly, finally giving up on her anger. "Yeah, I suppose."

"Great." The earth bender rubbed his hands together. "How about we try singing first?"

"Sing what?"

"Wait until I get my ear plugs." Mako said, only to receive a glare from Korra. "It was a joke…geez."

"Just say, do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do…" Bolin said in a sing song voice, going up an octave with each word."

Korra sighed heavily but obeyed. She didn't notice the brothers cringe.

"Alright…not bad…try again, a little higher this time." Bolin said.

"Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do!"

Mako started to leave.

"Where are you going, bro?"

"To clean up the blood from my ears…"

In less than five seconds, the fire bender was hit with a giant earth block and was on the ground in pain.

"Ouch…" He groaned. "You just can't take a joke, can you…"

The Avatar who caused his pain, glared at him intensively. Bolin tried to pull her back on track.

"Focus Korra, ignore him."

"This is stupid." Korra declared.

"No, no, no, no, no." Bolin grabbed her arm before she could leave. "So singings not your thing…so what? Everyone can't sing; Mako sounds like a dying whale when he sings. How about dancing? Why don't you try dancing?"

The Avatar hesitated. "What kind of dancing?"

"Any. Ballet, slow dancing, tango, salsa, contemporary, even break dancing…well maybe not break dancing…"

Korra hesitated again and then began doing random jigs, from spinning, to doing the disco, to trying to do the running man, Korra danced like she had two left feet and two right legs. Bolin couldn't help but laugh. Mako watched her with pity as he got up from the ground.

Korra stopped once she saw Bolin laughing and ended up laughing right along with him. It was pretty funny…and apparently she knew that too.

"You know, I've noticed bending is kind of like dancing…without the bending." Mako said suddenly.

"That makes perfect sense." Korra stopped laughing and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I get what you're talking about." Bolin nodded in agreement. "It's going through the motions of bending without actually bending."

Korra looked at the brothers as if they were from another planet. "What?"

"Just try it." Mako ordered a little irritated.

Korra sighed but did what she was told. She went through the motions of fire bending with the intentions of not bending, but at the end flames still came from her hands. If flew just inches over the brothers heads.

Bolin ducked immediately. "Whoa! Korra, I think you misunderstood the no bending part…"

"Maybe we should enlist in the help of a chi blocker…" Mako said.

"Woops, sorry. This is new to me, let me try again."

_10 fireballs, 7 water whips and 13 rock slams later…_

"Wait, I almost got it." Korra started to try again for the umpteenth time but an injured Bolin grabbed her arm.

"No! I mean…maybe dancing isn't you thing either…"

"Yeah, maybe your right." Korra sighed.

"Maybe?" Mako mumbled.

"Can you play an instrument?" Bolin started to move on.

The Avatar thought silently to herself for a moment causing Mako to speak for her.

"That would be a no. Next?"

"Juggling?"

Korra shook her head, not even wanting to attempt it for fear she'd embarrass herself…again.

She sighed instead. "None of this stuff is working. What am I going to do?"

Unsure, Bolin thought to himself in silence. After a few seconds he snapped his fingers happily. "I got it! A comic routine, I've seen a girl do that before."

"Wrong again, Bo," Mako shook his head. "to do that Korra would need to be funny."

"First, I'm not feminine and now I'm not funny…gee, Mako, I'm starting to sound like you more and more each day…" Korra mumbled.

Mako's face dropped. "I don't know why I bother…"

Bolin chuckled. "Korra can be funny."

"Exactly." The Avatar nodded in agreement.

The fire bender narrowed his eyes. "Prove it; tell us a joke."

Korra searched his face to see if he was serious and once she saw that he was, she grinned. She took a step back and cleared her throat. She just knew she'd knock their socks off with her jokes.

"Alright then." She rubbed her hands together. "Why did the bike fall over?"

She paused for effect.

"Because it was too tired! Get it? Too tired…two tired!" She laughed aloud at her own joke.

Bolin grinned sheepishly while Mako remained frowning. When Korra saw they weren't laughing she moved on.

"Okay, tough crowd. How about this? I'm giving away my chimney for free…I guess you can say it's on the house!" She laughed again. "Get it? It's on the house…it's a chimney and it's free…"

"We get it…it's not funny." Mako said.

Korra frowned but then got a determined look on her face. "This one will really have you rolling. Two peanuts walked into a bar…one was assaulted. Get it? Assaulted. A salted. Because their peanuts…and peanuts are often salty…"

Bolin chuckled a bit at the corniness of the joke while Mako facepalmed.

"You better hope the judges don't have tomatoes…"

"Last one," The Avatar was positive they'd laugh at this one. "this is Amon's catch phrase: Need your bending taken away? Amon the job! Get it? Amon the job…I'm on the job. Woo, I crack myself up!"

"If you have to explain each joke you make, they're not funny." The fire bender grunted.

"Alright, alright." Bolin stepped in before it could escalate into an argument. "Looks like this is the best we can do for now. So until we find a better talent for Korra, it looks like she'll have to do this. We'll have to work with her on the jokes though…"

"Don't hate on my jokes." Korra crossed her arms.

"Whatever. Does this mean we can stop for today?" Mako asked, ready for this to end.

"Soon, very soon." Bolin explained. "We can't forget about the sample questions. We have to work with her on those, so just ask her one or two."

Mako exhaled heavily and then took the piece of paper with the questions on it from Bolin. He scanned the sheet quickly and randomly chose a question.

"What are your hobbies?"

"Water bending, fire bending, eath bending, pro bending..."

"Something that doesn't end with bending please..." Mako sighed.

"Oh right, girly," Korra thought hard. "um...sewing...doing hair...reading...washing...and eating...yeah."

Before Mako could say what was wrong with what she said, Bolin spoke up.

"Better than yesterday, right Mako?"

"...sure." Whatever made this go quicker. He asked another question. "What do you think about Pro bending?"

The grin Korra got on her face then told the brothers her answer probably wouldnt be one they'd approve of.

"Pro bending is...awesome! I listen to it on the radio, I go to the games! It's the best sport ever and my favorite team would have to be the Fire Ferrets." She explained enthusiastically.

Mako just facepalmed.

"Girly and appeals to non benders, Korra." Bolin remininder her.

"If I said anything else then I'd be lying. What's wrong with what I said? I didn't say I participated in it...and beside, a lot of females love pro bending. You two have countless fan girls." Korra defended her answer.

"And you won't see any of them entering this pageant." Mako huffed.

"You don't know that."

"I might as well."

"Why do you always have to be a jerk?"

"Why do you always have to be so pugnacious?"

"Because of jerks like you!" Korra got mad again.

"I'm not a jerk." Mako growled.

Bolin watched, not bothering to break it up this time. What was the point? They'd be right back at it again not long after. Two days down and five more to go. As the earth bender looked on to the argument he wondered if they were really going to be able to win this competition. Of course they would...right?

* * *

_Woo, finally done with this chapter! Thank you for all those wondeful reviews, I can't tell you how glad they make me feel! And I hope I get a lot more! I also hoped you laughed and if you did, would it be too much to ask for you all to tell me your favorite part or what made you laugh the most? I just like to know. _

_Sorry about the brackets that say insert awesome fight scene, lol, but I can't write fighting scenes for anything! Oh and I use all those jokes up there except the Amon one, I just foung that one on tumblr..._

_Can't wait for the new episode tomorrow. :) Oh and last thing, if you read chapter 2 earlier on when I first updated you might want to re-read the beginning part because I added something funny to it. Have an awesome day, love you guys!_


End file.
